The Cobbler’s Kids Are No Longer Shoeless
After two years, countless design mockups, several intense “creative debates,” and more than a few exasperated sighs, we finally did it: our brand-new website is live. Cue the confetti.
Why all the fuss over one little website? Because when you’re in the business of designing and developing websites for clients, your own site becomes the unofficial yardstick by which you’re judged. And let’s just say…our old site was a bit more ruler from a cereal box than a precision-calibrated instrument. Outdated navigation, uninspiring design, and content that hadn’t been touched in far too long – it was time for a major overhaul.
But, like many cobblers with barefoot children, we let our needs fall to the bottom of the priority list. And when you’re fortunate enough to have a steady stream of client work (which we are), carving out time for your internal projects becomes an exercise in frustration. Every hour we spent fiddling with our site was an hour not spent meeting a deadline, sending off a report, or launching someone else’s digital dream.
Still, late nights, working weekends, and the occasional “wait, didn’t we already change that?” eventually got us to the finish line. But not without a few bumps along the way.
We Were Our Own Worst Client
And we don’t say that lightly. Looking back, we made nearly every mistake we warned clients about… and then some. Here’s just a sample:
- We started with no clear-cut goal beyond “We’re tired of the old site.”
- Our project kept getting shoved behind (waaaaaay behind) everything else on our plate.
- Direction like “Let’s do something different” was thrown around with zero clarification.
- We had multiple creative standoffs based entirely on subjective preferences. (“I just don’t like it” isn’t exactly constructive feedback.)
It was humbling. And enlightening. And, okay, occasionally exasperating.
Lessons Learned
If nothing else, this experience gave us a much deeper appreciation for our clients and the challenges they face. Taking on a project like a website redesign while running a business is no joke. The time, energy, and mental bandwidth it requires is substantial, and that’s coming from the people who do this for a living.
We also realized that while collaboration is important, sometimes too many cooks really do spoil the broth. Or at least delay dinner by six months.
If there’s one thing we’re taking away from this experience (besides a deep sense of relief), it’s the importance of process. And next time – because let’s be honest, in about two years we’ll be itching for a redesign again – we’ll do things differently.
Next Time, We’ll Actually Follow the Process
We say this half-jokingly, but it’s true: the process we ask our clients to go through? Yeah, that would’ve helped. Funny how that works.
So here it is: our internal checklist for next time (that, yes, we’ll actually follow):
Start With a Brainstorming Session Involving All Key Stakeholders to Define:
- Clear goals for the new site
- Metrics to measure success
- Strengths and weaknesses of the current site
- A realistic project timeline
- A wishlist for the new build
Then:
- Gather examples of websites we like (and why)
- Analyze competitors’ sites; what works, what doesn’t
- Create a wireframe and sitemap
- Set a firm schedule with deadlines and accountability
And Finally, Gather All Assets Before Development Starts:
- Copy, images, headlines, PDFs, links… everything
- Provide consolidated, meaningful feedback
- Assign one person (yes, one) to oversee the entire project
Hmm…this list seems familiar…wait a minute – this is the process we encourage our clients to go through!
Son of a…